1/35 Ukrainian Merkava IV (Academy)

[Wardukw]

the Australian is a strange creature ..it's seems the hotter it gets the happier they are..

Yeah, that's the impression I have too. Thoroughly incomprehensible ... we've been having four days of around 30 degrees now, and I would like it to drop by at least five degrees, and preferably ten, sooner rather than later. For no other reason than that it's too hot in my attic modelling room to do anything there, of course

Mate your definitely in the wrong place to work ...your closer to the problem.
Scarey to say tho but this is how is now..we..us kiwis and Aussies didn't really have a summer this yr...which I loved by the way 
We've all seen what the weather's like now..screwed up nine ways from Sunday and it might be to late to change it anytime soon.
Unlike my other fellow builders I do live in a tin box and mate when the summer hits hard I can barely breathe in here..not alot gets done I can tell ya.

[Jakko]

Mate your definitely in the wrong place to work ...your closer to the problem.

Yep, but no real other choice.

Scarey to say tho but this is how is now..we..us kiwis and Aussies didn't really have a summer this yr...which I loved by the way 

Whereas we here in the Netherlands have barely had winters for the last decade or so — I remember several in which I didn't take my winter coat off its hook at all (granted, living in the part of the Netherlands that your country is named after, we get mild winters anyway, but still). And now we're having what the newspaper this morning described as a "heatwave very early in the year".

[zenrat]

Geez, what a bunch of whingers...

 

[scooter]

Geez, what a bunch of whingers...

 

We're old.  Now, get off my lawn!

Whereas we here in the Netherlands have barely had winters for the last decade or so — I remember several in which I didn't take my winter coat off its hook at all (granted, living in the part of the Netherlands that your country is named after, we get mild winters anyway, but still). And now we're having what the newspaper this morning described as a "heatwave very early in the year".

Ditto here across the Pond in NJ.  I'd like to think either another Mt Tambora/Lake Toba supervolcanic eruption, or a large Anak Krakatoa eruption might help fix what we've got going on.

[scooter]

By the way...photos or it never happened.

[Wardukw]

I still remember going to school in winter and having ice covered puddles in the school grounds..not anymore..well not for decades.
It's 3:40am here right now..it's 5C outside and it's what I'd call chilly because of the wind..but as Jakko said about his jacket..im still only wearing a t shirt..long sleeve t shirt..slightly heavier and a light Hoodie.
Still gonna be a lovely day as a clock up about 450kms today ☺️

[Jakko]

I still remember going to school in winter and having ice covered puddles in the school grounds..not anymore..

Yep, I even had a few gym classes where the teacher told us to bring our skates next time, so we spent the next gym class skating on the frozen-over canal next to the school. Nowadays, if it's a harsh winter by current standards, the water at the bottom of ditches freezes, and that's about it.

as Jakko said about his jacket..im still only wearing a t shirt..long sleeve t shirt..slightly heavier and a light Hoodie.

I always wear a T-shirt with nothing over it indoors, regardless of whether it's +10, +20, +30 or −5 degrees outside Outside, I put on one or two jackets of varying types depending on the temperature and weather, but that's it. Lots of people have asked me if I'm not cold, wearing just a T-shirt in the middle of winter ... no, can't say that I ever am

[Old Wombat]

Photo's taken of the "muddy" bits but I won't post them just yet.

I'm working on the tracks at the moment, which was going fine ... Until the indy link sections over the drive sprocket wheels down to the front road wheels decided to start falling apart.    

[Old Wombat]

Top run, bottom run & front run of tracks done. A bit messy on the indy link front run but a bit of "mud" will hide the worst of it.

A couple of coffee stirrers per side & the weight of the hull are holding the top & bottom lengths onto the return rollers & road wheels, respectively, while the glue dries to hold them in place.

Hopefully get the rear run of tracks done tonight, after work, & get some photos up tomorrow ... Hopefully!

[Wardukw]

I am really looking forward to seeing this beasty 

[NARSES2]

Yep, I even had a few gym classes where the teacher told us to bring our skates next time, so we spent the next gym class skating on the frozen-over canal next to the school.

I can remember the BBC News showing footage of people skating on the canals in Holland during the winter. It was always something that seemed "so Dutch" 

[Old Wombat]

OK, well, life has gotten in the way & will be having an impact for a while to come as I clear out my garage so repair works can commence after we copped a pounding from a hail storm on Wednesday, last week.

I haven't quite finished the tracks, although they are sitting while glue dries & are not far from done.

In the meantime I thought I'd post the photo's of the "mud"-works.

12 photo's, some are a bit repetitive but you're all grown up enough to sort out what you think's important.

























If you want a bigger image click on it, then click on it again.

[Jakko]

That's starting to look properly dirty

[Wardukw]

Mate that's looking very natural...it's a good amount without going over board ...which IMO is more difficult to do ..to much mud is easy and brilliant for hiding mistakes.
Great stuff Womby   
Great pics too...since im on my phone to enlarge I just expand my screen ...then the pics become Really enlarged 

[Old Wombat]

Thanks, gents!  

I only wish I had been able to get the white wash & white pearl paint to spider out like real ice does. Still, you can't have everything &, as I said earlier, it's good enough for me.

FYI, here is an excerpt from a post by Ramba in my thread on this build over on BtS;

The Merkava in Ukraine might not be a what if anymore.

According to this Reuters article, Israel and the US approved sales of older Merkava Mk.2 and Mk. 3 tanks to be sold to two foreign countries and one is in Europe.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/israel-plans-first-sale-merkava-tank-european-country-2023-06-15/

Here is another article in Hebrew but you can copy and paste in Google translate to read it. This article is more detailed.
https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/skugq500p2

In the articles they're talking about older vehicles, specifically Merkava 2's & 3's, so I doubt Merkava 4s or Namers would be on the cards. However, that still leaves the possibility of Israeli upgraded M113s, Achzarits, NagmaSho'ts & Nakpadons (with US agreement).

Interestingly, this leaves open the question of what has happened to the Israeli Ofek APC conversion program (based on Merkava 2 & 3 hulls).




PS: Please note that they mention a "European country", they don't name that country, so it could be any of a number of nations that have sent tanks to Ukraine hoping to top up their domestic defence requirements, not necessarily Ukraine itself.

PPS: My laugh-out-loud moment came when my mind flickered across the idea that Australia was the non-European recipient country, so we could make our Abrams tanks available for Ukraine!